Next to the desk, Luo Qiao saw a letter weighted down on the surface, titled "To be opened by the destined," and fortunately, having learned calligraphy in her previous life, she managed to piece together the content inside.
It said the previous owner was from the Great Tang, who, delighted by this space, shared the secret with her best friend, only to have the secret leaked, resulting in her tragic separation from her family and an untimely death.
She advised the destined one to guard the secret well and to be aware of the principle, "An innocent man holds no blame, but one who possesses a jade commits a crime."
The letter briefly described the functions of the space: a well behind the Bamboo Building, which when used regularly enhances beauty and health; the time inside moves four times faster than the outside world, allowing crops to be harvested in all four seasons each year.
Produce grown inside tasted better than that from outside, and the underground storage underneath the Bamboo Building could preserve things forever without them ever spoiling.
At the end, Luo Qiao reached for her neck and, sure enough, felt the Crescent Jade Amulet. According to the original owner's memory, she'd had it since she was young, this item could never belong to the Luo Family.
Unable to understand, she stopped thinking about it but learned from the letter that the space must have come about when the original owner's blood touched the jade the previous day, though the amulet itself seemed unremarkable.
However, it made sense, the item was fortunately unremarkable, otherwise, it would have surely been taken by the Luo Family members, especially considering that the original owner had been raised and cared for by Grandma Luo from a young age, and the Luo couple hardly paid any attention to her.
When the original owner was nine, Grandma Luo fell severely ill and passed away, leaving her to live with the two daughters of Luo Family's Main Wife, so the couple never discovered the amulet.
Now, Luo Qiao felt an unreal sensation, surprisingly excited and at a loss, sitting silently in the study for a long time before she could calm down.
After descending to the first floor, she found the entrance to the storage, and going down, she noticed the storehouse was quite large, mostly filled with grains, and there were some fruits and the least number of vegetables.
Further inside were rows of shelves laden with gold, silver, jade artifacts, ancient paintings, exquisitely crafted bowls, dishes, tea sets, as well as many pieces of fabric and varieties of embroidery thread.
In the farthest part, there were several chest of drawers, and upon closer examination, Luo Qiao found they were all labeled with seeds for grains, vegetables, flowers, and medicinal herbs.
After a brief inspection, she left the Bamboo Building; behind it was a small door, beyond which was a bamboo forest, and the rear wall of the Bamboo Building neatly lined with a lot of dried straw.
Luo Qiao then remembered the kitchen stove was traditional, so she went back to the kitchen to look again, finding it had two stoves and all sorts of knives, plates, bowls, basins.
There were steaming baskets of various sizes, even a rolling board and rolling pin for dough, and most importantly, a stone mill in the kitchen, quite well-equipped indeed.
After inspecting the kitchen, Luo Qiao walked towards the back door to find that well, and shortly after exiting, she saw the well reputed to enhance beauty and health.
Curious, Luo Qiao decided to try the water, because she had never drawn water from a well in her previous life; despite having memories of the original body, it still took quite a while to haul up half a bucket.
She ladled some water with a calabash dipper by her side and drank it down, it was indeed refreshingly sweet and smooth, suddenly she laughed—it sounded like something from a liquor commercial.
Ahead was the bamboo forest, not very large, but it contained various kinds of bamboo—osmanthus, Xiangfei, arrow, purple, hairy, and phoenix tail bamboo, among a few others that Luo Qiao did not recognize.
Luo Qiao did not venture further, as she had been on the kang when she entered and wasn't wearing shoes, and it was broad daylight; Lu Yichen might arrive at any moment.